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THE STATE 



NEBRASKA 



ITS RESOURCES 



A PAMPHLET FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION, SHOWING HOW LANDS 

AND HOMES MAY BE ACQUIRED IN THE STATE, AND THE 

PROSPECTS OF SETTLERS THEREIN. 



ISSUED BY THE STATE. 



LINCOLN: 

JOURNAL COMPANY. ^TATE PRINTERS. 
1879. 



PEE FACE 



This pamphlet lias been prepared for the State Departments of 
Nebraska, and it is intended as a general reply to manifold letters 
of inquiry received by the officers of the State. The pamphlet 
sets forth the resources of the State and the opportunities which 
still remain open for settlement. The careful consideration of the 
reader is invited to the statements made. No new state presents 
mure inviting prospects to those East and in European countries 
who are considering the question of emigration from their old 
homes, with the view of founding new homes in a new land. 

ALBINUS NANCE, 

Governor of Nebraska,. 

F. M. DAVIS, 

State Land Convinces toner. 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



In folk lore there is this story. There was a man tired of the 
patient cultivation of his little farm; and who desired to be rich 
without labor. Lacking wealth, life had become " stale, flat and 
unprofitable." Three times he dreamed there was treasure hid 
under the earth in his old orchard which for years had been bar- 
ren of fruit. Three is the regulation number that makes a dream 
true; and so, in an extacy of excitement, he revealed the secret to 
his wife, and began to dig. Kound one tree he dug a mound of 
earth, and round another, until there was not a gnarled trunk about 
whose roots he had not let in the vitalizing air. But there was no 
treasure. Of course, he grew angry over his wasted labor; and he 
had a sorry time when his neighbors hung on his fence and laughed 
at his folly. Spring-time, however, and the trees blossomed. Au- 
tumn followed; and they were loaded with fruit. Years went on, 
the old orchard yielding a rich revenue, and so the man found 
there was golden treasure hid in the earth, after all; and he grum- 
bled no more because his farm was not a literal gold mine, but 
worked it with vim, and his land made him as wealthy as a man 
has need to be. Our fathers who composed this parable knew 
what they were talking about quite as well as the old Greeks when 
they made the myth about exhausted Hercules renewing his 
strength at the touch of the earth mother. Gold is good; but it 
usually costs the miner as much to win it as it is worth. The pro- 
ductions of the soil are better in the long run, for it is on these 
that all life must base. In her agricultural productions Nebraska 
if rich; and will be richer. She boasts soil that is nowhere 



6 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

excelled; a climate favorable to production; and pure water in 
abundance. 

GEOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA, 

The map accompanying this pamphlet exhibits the area of the 
state, which comprises 75,995 square miles, or 46,636,800 acres* 
roughly speaking as large as all the New England states, or all 
Pennsylvania and half of New York. Its length is 412 miles, 
and its width about 200. It is between the parallels 40° and 43° 
north, thus placing the whole state in the latitude of Pennsylva- 
nia, and southern New York, and northern California, and south- 
ern Oregon; and between 18° and 27° west from Washington, or 
95° and 104° west of Greenwich. The state is called prairie. So 
it is, in the sense of the word which means meadow; but not in 
that secondary sense which implies a land of uniform flatness. In 
real truth, Nebraska is a part of the lowest eastern grass-clothed 
slope of the Rocky Mountains. The eye alone will make no ob- 
server aware of this fact. Nevertheless, from the eastern to the 
western boundary of Nebraska, there is a gradual and uninter- 
rupted rise of the land of about seven feet to the mile in eastern 
Nebraska, and from that to ten feet in the west; and thus it comes 
that while the land on the eastern boundary is 910 feet above sea- 
level, on the western boundary it is about 5,000. The surface 
form of the state is, of course, made by the rivers. The eastern 
front of the country shows bold, wooded bluffs to the Missouri, 
their outlines being cut and scarped into fantastic and picturesque 
forms by the washing water. West of the Missouri bluffs, except 
on the table lands, there is no flat, but a land of many changing 
forms — now broad bottoms, bounded by low hills; now pictur- 
esque bluffs, and, especially in the grazing region, ravines some- 
times as rugged as the gulches in the gold fields. Now and again 
a river flows full to the bank, from which the bottom — from a mile 
to four or more miles wide— spreads out on either hand; but gen- 
erally the streams run in deep beds, the high, steep banks and the 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 7 

narrow first bench being thickly clothed with timber. The gen- 
eral ascending lay of the land is broken west to east by three main 
drainage channels. On the northern boundary of the state are the 
Niobrara and the Missouri rivers, of which latter the Niobrara is an 
affluent. The Platte, a winding, shallow, spreading stream, dotted 
with numerous islands, and running over a bed of white sand, 
flows through the whole length of the state from west to east, at a 
distance of 100 to 120 miles south of the Niobrara; and, 50 to 80 
miles south of the Platte, the Eepublican river has its channel. 
These rivers head in, or near the mountains. Their flow is west 
to east; and their drainage area on the south is limited to a belt 
of ten to fifteen miles, and the tributary streams from that side 
are few. North of each stream, however, its affluents are numer- 
ous; and the general flow of their waters is south-east. This is 
the topography of Nebraska in barest outline; and, with the map 
before him, the reader can fill in the details. He can imagine the 
great plain ascending to higher altitudes as the mountains are ap- 
proached; the rivers, west to east, making three great valleys, and 
two elevated divides separating the valleys; and, finally, the 
smaller streams exhibiting the land as broken into an al Jiost infinite 
number of gently undulating hills and valleys — with great table 
lands on the summits — the trend of which is south-east. 

GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 

In the south-eastern part of the state upper carboniferous and 
permian deposits come to the surface, the boundary line running 
south-west from Washington county to about the centre of the 
southern line of Thayer county. Over one-third of the state west 
of this line, cretaceous deposits make the surface, and west again 
the tertiary. The surface geology of Nebraska represents great 
periods in the history of the formation of the crust of the globe — 
glacial epochs, and age3 of time, when seas and lakes covered the 
land, now the centre of the United States. It is for a scientific 



• 



8 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

treatise to describe in detail the accumulated changes of these 
eras — the grinding of the mills of the gods which produced life, 
and swept away life, ultimately resulting in the fertile Nebraska 
which is to-day. It is a marvellous story, whose record is every- 
where written in Nebraska; but in this pamphlet there is not space 
for its telling. The final formative processes are, however, inter- 
esting to the farmer, inasmuch as they describe the land he has to 
till. Toward the close of the last glacial period the continent 
slowly uprose, and a portion of this region became dry land. Yet 
great fresh water lakes remained, one in Nebraska and Iowa being 
estimated as 500 miles long, and from 50 to 200 miles wide. 
There was the Missouri river, then and now the muddiest river in 
the world. For a thousand miles its course was, and is, through 
deposits readily friable, and easily worn and borne away by the 
water, especially as at this time at the sources of the Missouri and 
Yellowstone the water action was aided by the erosive action of 
moving ice-masses. When the river entered the great lake its cur- 
rent ceased, and the suspended sediment dropped to the bottom. 
The land was now being gradually upheaved. As it rose the wa- 
ters of the loess lake were drained off by the Missouri, and its bed 
became a vast marsh. The present broad bottoms of the country 
were at that time river beds; and, with their waters, still came down 
the muddy debris from the mountains, and was largely deposited 
at the bottoms of the great streams. The land was still rising; 
and, as it rose, the rivers drained off the surplus waters. The river 
beds were cut deeper into the yielding soil; and the time ultimate- 
ly came when Nebraska was fixed in the condition which exists at 
this day — the loess being largely the soil of the uplands, and the 
alluvial that of the 'river valleys. The two deposits are similar in 
chemical elements; and they form 

THE RICHEST SOIL IN THE WORLD, 

and most valuable for agricultural purposes, ranging in thickness 
from five to 150, and even 200 feet. Careful analyses of the soil 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 9 

show that in the loess over eighty per cent, of the formation is 
finely comminuted silica: so fine that its true character can only 
be detected under a microscope. About ten per cent, of its sub- 
stance is made up of carbonates and phosphates of lime. There 
are some small amounts of alkaline matter, iron and alumina; 
the result being a soil that can never be exhausted until every hill 
and valley which composes it is entirely worn away. Its finely 
comminuted silica gives it natural drainage in the highest degree. 
When torrents of rain come the water soon percolates the soil 
which, in its lowest depths, retains it like a huge sponge. When 
droughty periods intervene, the moisture rises from below by cap- 
illary attraction, supplying nearly all the needs of vegetation in 
the dryest seasons. The richer surface soil overlies the subsoil, 
and it is from eighteen inches to three and four, and even six feet 
thick. It is organically the same as the subsoil, but enriched with 
organic matter, the growth and decay of inuumerable centuries — 
a garden soil, easily cultivated, and making the arable farm as a 
garden. 

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS IN NEBRASKA. 

In the first place, there is water in abundance underground, on 
the surface, and coming from the clouds. At a depth of twenty to 
sixty feet, and at some places sixty to 100, there is a thick layer of 
clear sand, which, in most cases, rests upon a bed of rock or clay; 
and, so abundant is the water in this sand, that in many places sub- 
terranean streams are formed, which are struck in sinking shafts. 
Everywhere abundant water, above the average in purity, is ob- 
tained at the depths named, the cost of a common tubed well be- 
ing about seventy-five cents per foot. On the surface, rivers, 
creeks, prairie ponds and springs abound. No map yet published 
does justice to the numberless small streams that exist in the 
state, even the plats of the public surveys failing to indicate them 
all: and, indeed, there being large areas where running water is 
now found on every section, where there was none when those sur- 



10 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 



veys were made. The rainfall is ample. The best data accessible 
are the tables kept by Dr. A. L. Child, of Plattsmouth, from which 
the following is compiled: 



TEMP. 



YEARLY SNOW 



YEARLY RAIN AND 
MELTED SNOW 



{Winter 
Spring 
Summer 
Fall 

f Winter 

1870 J gP rin ^ 
J Summer 

[Fall 
r Winter 

[Fall 

f Winter 
1878 Spring 
| Summer 
[Fall 



19.99° 
47.03° 

72.78° 
49.75° 

22.14° 
46.17° 
70.00° 
42.64° 

15.06° 
45.55° 
71.67° 
47.31° 

83.01° 
52.71° 
72.86° 
51.98° 



11 45 
inches 



22.00 
inches 



29.26 
inches 



4.10 in 
8.34 " 

11.95 " 

7.11 " 



4.60 in 
9.50 " 
9.10 " 
8.90 " 



2.08 
12.48 
28.70 

6.96 

3.57 
12.64 
22.48 

4.78 



in 



31.70 in 



32.10 in 



50.22 in 



43.47 in 



The average rainfall for these five years is 32.29 as compared 
with 34.13, the average of eleven years in Illinois. From the 
middle of the state west the rainfall is somewhat less than the 
table indicates; but in the eastern half the average is 32, two- 
thirds of which is during the agricultural montns, or quite as 
much rain at the precise time when it is needed as falls during the 
same months in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New York. 
A peculiarity of the rainfall is that it is mostly at nights, so that 
the heaviest showers, quickly draining into the land, scarcely in- 
terfere with work on the farm. The temperature is of the tem- 
perate zone — healthful and bracing to man and beast; and in which 
corn, small grains, apples and peaches come to rich perfection. 

NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 



The prairie, clothed only by natural processes, presents its own 
testimony to the riches of the state. Its whole expanse is covered 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 11 

with grasses, there being not fewer than 150 species, and the most 
abundant making the best pasture, showing green at the end of 
April, and affording feed until November. The blue-joint grows 
everywhere except on low bottoms. Under ordinary conditions its 
growth is two and a half to four feet; and on cultivated grounds 
it is found from seven to ten feet high. Wild oats grow on the 
uplands, mixed with blue-joint. This grass is relished by cattle, 
and is abundant. The buffalo grass, low in habit, is now found in 
the western half of the state. It disappears before cultivation, 
but it is nature's provision of food for grain-eating animals during 
winter, on the prairie, inasmuch as it retains its nutriment all the 
year round. Among other feed grasses are several varieties of 
bunch grass; and in the low lands a native blue-grass, and the 
spangle-top, which latter makes excellent hay. 

THE NATIVE TREES. 

The Nebraska prairie is not bare of trees — in fact, the native 
trees furnish a large list. The river bluffs are clothed with them, 
and the banks of the streams. There are two kinds of buckeye, 
two of maple, two of locust, four of ash, three of hickory, eleven 
of oak, twelve of willow (eight species being shrubs), three of pop- 
lar, one sycamore, black walnut, yellow pine, white cedar and red 
cedar. The shrubs include common juniper, pawpaw, prickly ash, 
five sumacs, red root, spindle tree, six species of plum, six cur- 
rants and gooseberries, five dogwoods, butter bush, buffalo berry, 
red and white mulberry, hazelnut and beaked hazelnut. Cedars 
are found on the islands of the Platte, and along the Loups and 
the Niobrara there is a goodly quantity of pine. But the point is 
here: This list of trees is proof that trees flourish on the prairie; 
and that as much timber as is needed for all uses can be raised on 

the farm. 

tup: prairie, in its natural condition, 

presents the aspect the preceding pages sketch. An untilled gar- 
den-land, furnishing plenty for its wild denizens — man and beast. 



12 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Looking at it in this year, 1879, it is a marvel how Fremont and 
others could have come to regard it as a desert. So they did re- 
gard it; and the nation, up to the year 1850, little knew of the 
rich domain it possessed in the trans-Missouri region — a region 
which is to be the great grain and stock-producing area of the con- 
tinent. 

THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA 

shows how this " manifest destiny "' of the prairie is being ac- 
complished in the " desert " of twenty-five years ago — a period 
just measuring the time of settlement. The white man knew Ne- 
braska more than twenty -five years ago. Adventurous French 
trappers explored its wastes, and fraternized with the Indians; and 
the conditions remained the same when Astor's American Fur 
Company collected the furs of the region. This company estab- 
lished trading posts, the first of all being at Belle Yue (between 
Omaha and the Platte river), which was under the charge of CoL 
Sarpy, a member of a French family well known on the frontier, 
and himself noted for his enterprise, sagacity, and courage. It 
matters little to speak of these times — except that when men see 
a great river it is natural to desire to know its birthplace in the 
mountains, and it was in these beginnings that Nebraska had its 
origin. Across its prairies was the way to^the west coast, and to 
Utah. Many an "argonaut" — as the "forty-niners" are called 
— never saw the sea until he reached the golden gate by way of 
the prairie, and the Mormon roads are still traceable across the 
plains. It was the establishment of frontier forts that was the 
next stage in Nebraska's progress. The people there had to be 
fed and clothed ; and the freighting system came into being. To 
meet the needs of this overland trade, there had to be ranches on 
the way, where supplies could be obtained; and hence, at conven- 
ient places, they were established. By one means or other the 
land was known to the outside world about 1850; and there was a 
crowd waiting on the Iowa and Missouri side of the Missouri to 






NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 13 

"jump" the river as soon as the territorial act authorizing settle- 
ment was passed and proclaimed in 1854. But from Cedar county in 
the north to Richardson county in the south, there was no belief 
anywhere that any land except the Missouri bottoms was worth 
occupying; and a decade went by, and there were but few farms 
opened ten miles west of the river, the balance of the state being 
really the hunting grounds of the Indians. In 1864, however, the 
Union Pacific railroad was commenced from Omaha; and in 1869 
the Burlington and Missouri River railroad, from Plattsmouth; 
and since then these railroads have been the largest factors in pro- 
moting Nebraska's prosperity. In 1867 the state was admitted to 
the Union; and at that time Lincoln, on the prairie, was located 
as the capital, and is now, besides being the seat of government, 
the second city in the state, with a population of 10,000, while 
Omaha's population numbers 25,000. This is a brief statement of 
dates in the short history of Nebraska. To fill up the outline 
sketched would require a book. In brief, the state has become a 
white man's country. The Indians have yielded possession, the 
Pawnees quitting their reservation, which has become Nance 
county; and the Otoe reservation also is being settled up every- 
where. In the agricultural part of the state the traveler meets 
with splendid farms; and, in the grazing region west, enormous 
herds of cattle. The reasons for the prosperity of the state will be 
of interest to those who are contemplating moving west, and the 
principal of these may be briefly stated. 

THE GREAT FOOD BELT OF THE CONTINENT. 

Men cannot make bread of sand, and so they do not settle in 
deserts. The United States cover 23 degrees of latitude — away to 
the frozen north, and down to the semi-tropic south. But, with 
all this choice, from the beginning of western settlement the great 
current of movement has been within a central belt five or six de- 
grees in width, and "nearly corresponding with the latitudinal 



14 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 



length of the state of Illinois, which lies between 36°56' and 42°- 
30V The proof of this is furnished by the census of 1870, which 
shows : 



Popula- 
tion 



True 
Yaluation 



Wheat in 
Bushels 



Corn in 
Bushels 



Im'igrants 

born out of 

U.S. 



11 States and 3 Ter. in 
latitude of Illinois. 

10 States, larger half in 
latitude of Illinois. 

Country wholly out of 
latitude of Illinois 



14019314112729954998 



13211389 



13105750967 



113276G8 4140075345 



117870054 

104378646 

55496926 



334137865 
240623912 

186182772 



2144000 

2524538 

898008 



The foregoing table demonstrates a truth most important to be 
remembered by those who are contemplating a change of base. 
This is the belt in the United States in which industry obtains the 
most certain and highest rewards. It is temperate in climate ; 
and a man can here work up to his best. The land is fruitful, and 
bears in greatest abundance those products which are necessaries 
of life, and which have value accordingly. " South of Illinois," 
writes Dr. Butler, "it is too hot for wheat; north of it is too cold 
for corn. Accordingly, in the latitude of Illinois — that is, within 
three degrees north and south of the parallel of 40° — American 
agriculture can be more diversified than anywhere else. Farmers 
there are not dependent on any one single staple, but raise crops 
so various that a season which is pernicious to one is profitable to 
some other. Theirs is the three-fold cord which is not quickly 
broken." 

NEBRASEA THE BEST PART OF THE BELT. 

The marvel oi .Nebraska is that the progress of Illinois is here 
excelled. Consider the following figures. At the beginning of 
1856 the population of Nebraska was 10,716, and at the close of 
1875, 259,912, which was a twenty-five-fold increase in 20 years. 
In 1810 Illinois had a population of 12,282, and in 1830 157,445, 
a thirteen-fold increase. These figures exhibit the two states in 
the first period of growth. Starting with about the same popula- 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 15 

tion, Nebraska doubles upon wonderful Illinois in the course of 
20 years. The reason is, that in Nebraska the farmer has Nature 
fully on his side, a fact further manifested when 

THE PRODUCTIONS OF THE STATE 

are considered. Corn, the king of grains, is bountiful in produc- 
tion; and it is not unusual for 70 pounds of ear to shell 60 to 63 
pounds, or four to seven pounds over the standard, the general aver- 
age of production, with fair cultivation, being 50 to 60 bushels per 
acre. Numerous varieties of wheat are grown, the yield being 15 
to 25 bushels per acre; of barley a fair yield is 30 to 40 bushels; of 
rye, 25 to 30 bushels ; and of oats 40 to 50 bushels. Flax returns 
about 12 bushels per acre ; and tame grasses — alfalfa, or Califor- 
nia clover, ordinary red and white clover, Hungarian grass, tim- 
othy, millet, blue grass and orchard grass — take well to the soil 
and climate, and cut heavy crops of hay. The country which is 
good for corn, good for small grains, good for grass and hay, and 
has a favorable climate, must be 

THE LOCATION FOR STOCK RAISING. 

It is live-stock the civilized world most wants; and in live-stock 
the farmer finds wealth. If a settler open a farm in the agricultural 
part of the state, mixed farming is the best; and he should, there- 
fore, combine grain and stock growing. If a man go forth to the 
great pastoral region, then, of course, the industry he will follow 
will be that of herdsman or flock-master; but, be he where he will 
in Nebraska, cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs are what he needs to 
have about him.. There is in Nebraska a wide field for profitable 
horse-raising; and, except the few colts which farmers raise, the 
field is unoccupied, and large numbers of horses are annually im- 
ported into the state, which could all be raised here at much less 
cost than in the states whence they are imported, and sold in Ne- 
braska at from $80 to $120 each. The farmer who wants to en- 



16 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

gage in horse-breeding, let him come to Nebraska. He will find 
the broken prairie — land which, because it is not the best land laid 
out for the plow, sells at from $3 to $1 per acre — the best adapted 
for the purpose, In these lands draws frequently come in from all 
sides towards a bottom; and wind-shelters are afforded from what- 
ever direction the wind may blow; and water, also, is ever abun- 
dant. In a location of this character a man may establish him- 
self; put up necessary shelters for his stock at a cheap rate; breed 
horses or mules, and find a ready market in the state and outside 
of it, for the freight is an exceedingly small percentage on the 
value of a good horse, and the best horses can be raised in Ne- 
braska at a much less cost than in Kentucky. For feed, horses have 
the native prairie grasses which are most excellent for both pas- 
turage and hay; and corn, oats, rye, and barley are grown in great 
abundance, and of most excellent quality. 

THE CATTLE FARM. 

Cattle should be upon every farm, as many as the land will 
carry, or the owner's means afford. Away from the great ranges, 
it is best to have fairly good stock, which it should be the farmer's 
aim constantly to improve. It will be long years before there are 
too many beef-cattle in the world; and the market for them is as 
wide as civilization. Let the reader consider the price of beef in 
the Eastern markets and in England, and contrast that with the 
price at which cattle can be raised on the Nebraska prairie. In 
three years, with good stock, the Nebraska farmer can have a steer 
to weigh 1500 pounds; and he is amply paid selling at 3-J- cents 
per pound. Under conditions like these, there is the possibility 
of an immense trade with the East and with England, though at 
present Chicago can absorb all of Nebraska's surplus. Improve- 
ments in cattle cars and in shipping arrangements, however, will 
extend Nebraska's sales to the most distant markets, landing 
stock in good condition in London and Liverpool at most for 4 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 17 

cents per pound. As an example of possibilities in prepared 
meats, an English farmer in Seward county two years ago, sent a 
small parcel of hams afnd bacon, cured in the English fashion, to 
the Manchester, England, market. The freight on his small ship- 
ment amounted to 3 cents per pound, and his returns were 25 
cents per pound; and he was informed that any quantity would be 
received at that price. The dairy produce of Nebraska may be 
indefinitely increased. Already a considerable quantity of Ne- 
braska cheese is shipped out of the state east and west, at one 
cheese-factory in Lancaster county, the product averaging 400 
pounds of cheese per head of cattle, and selling at 10 cents per 
pound. In butter-making, dairymen among the hills, where the 
milk can be kept in a spring-house, are supposed to have had an 
advantage not obtainable on the prairie. Now, however, " Coo- 
ley's Creamer " puts the prairie dairyman on the same plane as 
those who live in mountain regions. The wind-mill pump, which 
costs from 8120 to $160, keeps up a constant flow of coolest water 
from the recesses of the earth. The cooler is a large box, zinc- 
lined, with, between the zinc and the outer wood, a filling of char- 
coal. Placed beside the pump, the stream from the pump fills the 
box, and the overflow is carried off through a waste pipe, and so 
that it can be used for watering stock. This " spring-house " for 
the prairie is a simple apparatus, and not costly. But further: 
All who are acquainted with cattle know that under favorable 
conditions — and more favorable cannot be found than those of 
Nebraska — their increase is marvellous, calculation showing that 
30 cows that would cost say $1,200, in 10 years will develop into 
a herd worth $30,000, allowing 10 per cent for losses, and the butter 
and cheese for the cost of maintenance. This is cattle farming, 
of course, in the agricultural region. In the great pastoral west 
the business is simpler. There, as yet, dairy products count for 
nothing: and it is the increase in the herds — cheaply fed and 
cheaply cared for — which yields the profit. With the cattle raised 



18 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

in this western half of the state, there are good opportunities of 
profitable trade. Small herds can be selected, brought into the 
eastern parts, pastured on the way, and wintered on cheap corn and 
hay; and then they are in splendid condition for the meat market 
in the spring. In the farming region hogs go with cattle; and 
Nebraska farmers, with their Chester whites, Polands, and Berk- 
shires, have as good stock as can be found in any state. Thou- 
sands of men find cattle profitable in Nebraska, and thousands of 
others may engage in the business with equal success. In the 
west especially the business is an immense one; but statistics are 
not readily accessible. 

EXPERIENCE OF FLOCK-MASTERS. 

Those who devote themselves to sheep speak highly of the re- 
sults obtained. The sheep in its origin is native to the mountains. 
It likes the dry, pure air of the uplands, and avoids marshes. 
The lay of the land in Nebraska is, therefore, peculiarly adapted 
to sheep. On the breezy uplands, richly clothed with grasses, and in 
the pure, dry air, they are healthy and vigorous; the experience 
of Nebraska flock-masters, says the Hon. J. D. Jenkins of Fair- 
mont, in Fillmore county, who has had large experience, being 
that, with good management, sheep return a profit of 50 per 
cent upon the investment. The pioneer flock-master of east- 
ern Nebraska is the Hon. Moses Stocking, of Saunders county; 
and one yearly return he made, exhibited on a flock of 1,652 me- 
rinos — which breed he prefers, though long- wool breeds are now 
coming to have partizans — a profit of $3,495. In Jefferson county, 
Messrs. C. and P. Jansen — leaders in the Mennonite settlement 
there — commenced sheep farming in 1875, purchasing in Iowa and 
Wise onsin a flock of 1,500 fair merino sheep, and in New York 
20 to 30 thorough-bred merino rams. Since that time they have 
introduced new blood into the herd by importing additional thor- 
ough-bred rams, and have otherwise improved the flock by selling 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 19 

off all inferior animals, and keeping only the best, so that now 
they have a flock of 2,300 high-class merinos. As an indication 
of the manner in which sheep improve in Nebraska, they furnish 
the following figures as the yield of wool per head of the sheep 
during the several years : In IS 76 the clip averaged 7f pounds 
per head; in 1877, SJ- pounds; in 1S78, 9 pounds; and in 1S79 the 
enormous figure was reached of 11 pounds and a fraction per 
head, from which they realized $5,000. All through the state 
from south to' north, and away west to the Republican Valley, and 
the forks of the Loup, examples of successful sheep farming are 
found; and information regarding them may be obtained by inquir- 
ers. For this pamphlet these examples must suffice; but it is not 
too much to say that the 50,000,000 pounds of foreign wool now 
imported into the United States could all be raised on these 
prairies. 

SUCCESSFUL FRUIT CULTURE. 

When the first settlers crossed the Missouri they would not be- 
lieve that fruit would grow in Nebraska; and some years elapsed 
before even experiments were made. They gathered prolific crops 
of wild plums, grapes, and gooseberries; but the} 7 were slow to 
learn the lesson of nature, that, where the plum thicket was prolific 
of fruit, the apple orchard would also grow. There were among 
the settlers, however, men of culture, intelligence, and enterprize, 
who knew how to reason and how to act. These were the pioneer 
orchardists of the river counties. They planted, and their plant- 
ing failed; but they persevered, and the result is a brilliant success. 
Orchards and vineyards crown the slopes of the hills; and Nebraska 
apples and Nebraska peaches vie with the best produced elsewhere. 
Take the practical test of the national competitions of the Ameri- 
can Pomological Society. At Richmond, Virginia, so long ago as 
1871, Nebraska exhibited one hundred and forty-six varieties of 
apples, fifteen of peaches, thirteen of pears, one of plums, and one 
of grapes, and was awarded the first premium for the best collec- 
tion of fruit among- all the States. A first prize was again taken 



20 NEBRASKA AUD ITS RESOC-ROES. 

at the Boston meeting in 1873; at the Chicago meeting in 1875; 
and, at the International Exhibition in 1876, the judges awarded to 
Nebraska, prizes for eight varieties of pears, large, smooth, and 
well colored, and for 263 varieties of apples — the latter prize be- 
ing " for the unusually large number of finely grown varieties, also 
for their general freedom from insect markings, fungus, and 
weather discolorations." The success is undoubted, and the reason 
for the success is the co-adaptability of soil and climate — the pecu- 
liar deposits (before described), says Professor Aughey, making " a 
paradise for fruit culture, especially for the apple, plum, grape, 
and all the small fruits of the temperate zones. They luxuriate in 
soils like this, which has perfect natural drainage, and is composed 
of such materials. The most important of the few known deposits 
like this, are the wonderful, ever fertile valley of the Nile, and the 
celebrated loess of the Rhine, the latter of which supplies EuK>pe 
with its finest wines and grapes. The results of experience demon- 
strate that this lacustrine deposit will excel in like manner," 
and this deposit " prevails over more than three-fourths of the sur- 
face of Nebraska." Not only in the river counties is horticulture 
successful — the report of the State Horticultural Society for 1877 
showing orchards and vineyards away out on the prairie — in Lan- 
caster, Pawnee, Saunders, Jefferson, Seward, York, Fillmore, Buf- 
falo, Hall, and Burt counties, or up to the [00th meridian. The 
same report gives a list of 53 varieties of apples as best for Ne- 
braska; twenty-three varieties of pears; seven varieties of cherries, 
the best being Early and Late Richmond; for plums, the Gages 
— green, yellow, and brown — the Lombard, the Minor, and Wild- 
goose; for peaches a list of eight, (for preference at starting seed- 
lings), and for grapes, the Goneord, Delaware and Hartford Pro- 
lific. As a closer guide to those who are setting out orchards for 
the first time, the society recommends 7 apples: Red June, Coop- 
er's Early White, Maiden's Blush. Eameuse, Rawle's J-nnette, 
Wine Sap, and Ben Dads; and, those who desire more variety, 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 21 

they recommend to add: Red Astracan^ Rambo, White Winter 
Pearmain,) and Sweeting. 

PISCICULTURE. 

One acre of water stocked with suitable fish is more profitable 
than the best ten acres of land on which the sun shines. The na- 
tive fish of Nebraska are not of high quality, and there is room 
and verge enough in the home market for extensive piscicultural 
operations. There are clear rivers and creeks — in some parts small 
lakes, and everywhere ponds in which certain species of useful 
fresh water fish can be made for ever abundant. To show how fish 
will increase even when left only to their natural fecundity, in- 
stance a consignment of perch, bass, and pickerel which, a few 
years ago, were being sent over the Union Pacific Railroad to Cal- 
ifornia. By an accident, the car was overturned into the Elkhorn 
river. The fry got into the stream, and there they have multi- 
plied amazingly (notwithstanding illegal netting, and spread into 
tributary streams and ponds. At a late meeting of the Legisla- 
ture, a Fish Commission was appointed to assist individuals in fish 
culture, and to protect their interests. Already many persons 
have established hatcheries. In Cass county, Mr. J. G. Romine 
has ponds where at the beginning of this year trout had obtained 
a weight of one-and-a-half pounds; in Otoe county, ex-Chief Jus- 
tice Mason has formed on his farm a large fish pond; in Nemaha 
county, Hon. J. H. Broady and Mr. "W. H. Hoover are stocking a 
clear deep pond with a surface area of 10 acres; and there have 
been some successful experiments away in the Republican valley, 
made by Mr. H. S. Kaley. Many who settle in Nebraska may 
find in fish culture a pleasant and profitable avocation. 

THE HONEY BEE AND THE PRAIRIE FLOWERS. 

A gentleman who has travelled extensively in the old world and 
the new world, tasted honey in Nebraska, the product of the 



214 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

prairie flowers, and he said: "This is as the honey of Hybla — the 
celebrated honey of the Mediterranean countries, with the same 
aromatic flavor." The honey of the prairie flowers is peculiarly 
rich; and bees work on the prairie and in the timber belts on the 
streams to great profit. To attend to bees — except when the 
apiary is on a large scale, as it is now and again in eastern Ne- 
braska north and south of the Platte— is an avocation for the women 
of the household: one in which they take delight, and one which 
not only puts money in the purse, but adds to the luxuries of the 
home. The bees begin to work on the wild flowers among the 
timber at the opening of spring; but the true honey season of Ne- 
braska is July, August, and September, when the flowers of the 
prairie — -milkweed, heartsease, goldenrod, sunflower, and many 
others are in their fullest bloom, though by planting rape and 
other early blooming honey flowers, May and June are brought 
into the honey period. In the river counties of Nebraska, large 
numbers of bees are kept, and in the neighborhood of Omaha alone, 
there are 2000 swarms. At the apiary of Mr. Geo. M. Uawley, 
near Lincoln, there were in the spring of 1879, 168 swarms of pure 
Italian bees. Up to August he had sold 100 swarms, and had 175 
left — the difference being the increase, besides the honey. In many 
of the interior counties there are bees, and wherever they are tried 
they are found profitable. 

WILD GAME OF THE PLAINS. 

The farmer cares little for game, and the more room there is for 
the larger game, the less for the agriculturist. Nevertheless, 
there are times and seasons when the farmer may properly recreate 
himself with sport; and there are hundreds of travellers and tour- 
ists who visit the plains for the purposes of hunting. Therefore, a 
brief paragraph on the wild game of the plains is here inserted. 
Buffalo shooting is falling into disrepute. It is easily accom- 
plished, and is something like butchery. Buffalo, however, are 



NEBRASKA ANT) ITS RESOURCES. 23 

still found in the sonth-west. The great elk (Cervus Canadensis) 
is the noblest game animal of the plains; and it is a huntsman's 
feat to circumvent and kill this monarch of the prairie. Some- 
times the elk weighs 700 to 800 lbs, and its antlers are magnifi- 
cent. Its range is in the west from the south to the north, feed- 
ing on the high prairies and frequenting also the ravines. The 
antelope, (Antilocapra Americana) in plentiful herds, and fleet as 
the winds, is found everywhere west of Plum creek; and the white- 
tailed deer (Cervus Leucurus), and the black-tailed (Cervus Macro- 
tis) are denizens of the same region — the white-tailed being found 
over the whole state. In the far west and among the ravines, the 
big-horn sheep (Ovis Montana) will now and again fall to the rifle. 
The time for hunting is from the first of October to the end of 
December, the law protecting the animals during the remainder 
of the year. The jack rabbit, or prairie hare (Leporidcs Campes- 
tris) is common. He is a strong and fleet animal, and is good 
game for coursing, and only to be run down by the strongest and 
fleetest greyhounds. The little gray rabbit is also common, and 
affords excellent shooting; and away in the west, the sage rabbit 
In the timber, two species of lynx are found — rarely in the settled 
parts of the state, and more commonly on the frontier; and also in 
the same localities, the large white and gray wolf. The cayote, 
or prairie wolf, is also worth hunting, the animal having all the 
cunning of the fox and more than the wit of the prairie foxes, of 
which there are three species, the red fox, the prairie fox and the kit 
fox. Some of the streams are still populous with beavers and others. 
The game birds of Nebraska are plentiful; and in the season afford 
sport in abundance. The wild turkey is the noblest of them all. 
Civilization drives it away, but in the wilder parts of the state, the 
bird is common enough, and where the woods are thickening in 
the river counties, its re-appearance is beginning to be noted. The 
prairie chicken — the grouse of the prairie — are everywhere; and 
away out on the frontier, the large sage hen. Quail are plentiful 
and readily shot; and there are several plovers which are worth 



24: NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

the powder and shot of the sportsman. In early spring and late 
fall, large flocks of wild geese are migrating across the state, and 
resting during the journey on the rivers, creeks, and ponds. Mal- 
lard, teal, and many other species of wild duck are plentiful dur- 
ing the same seasons. Of cranes, there are four or live species — 
the sand-hill crane, the largest, being accounted an excellent table 
bird. There are numerous hawks, and the bald-headed eagle is 
frequently seen in the less settled parts of the country. As to fish, 
though common kinds are abundant in the creeks, there are none 
that an angler would regard with favor, except in the north-west 
where trout become common in the streams. But briefly, for 
the sportsman and the naturalist, there is a great field in Ne- 
braska where one or two seasons can be spent with pleasure and 
profit. 

THREE DISTRICTS IN NEBRASKA. 

The foregoing narrative describes Nebraska in general terms, 
and if the reader will study the following figures, he will see the 
progress and prospects of the State further exemplified, but in a 
different way. A natural division of the state is into three great 
sections: north-eastern Nebraska, south-eastern Nebraska, and the 
grazing region west. Speaking broadly of these several areas, it 
may be said that the western grazing country is somewhat less 
than half of the area of the state — north-eastern Nebraska being a 
little larger than the south-eastern, though the present western 
limit of lands in cultivation is not so far west in the north as in 
the south. In the south the agricultural area extends almost to 
the western boundary of the state; and, indeed, in what is now 
the grazing region, the processes which have made the eastern half 
arable, are in rapid progress. 

NORTH-EASTERN NEBRASKA. 

Here there are 28 counties which in 1860 had a population of 10,- 
500; in 1870, 51,088; and in 1879, 108,264. And wealth has increased 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 25 

with the increasing population. Twenty-five years ago settlement 
began on the Missouri bottoms. On the whole wide prairie there 
was nothing which civilized man counts as wealth ; and yet now 
the property is assessed at — and assessed values are but as one in 
three of real values — $30,441,370 — Omaha with its population of 
25,000 contributing several millions. In 1870, the land in culti- 
vation in the whole state was 647,031 acres; but in 1879 in this 
quarter of the state, the figures are 1,168,846 acres. The live 
stock now owned by the people number 48,963 horses; 4,200 mules; 
141,281 cattle; 46,769 sheep; and 134,988 swine; and the wheat 
and corn product for the year 1879 (estimating for certain counties 
which have not made returns on the basis of the 1878 returns), is 
5,804,749 bushels of wheat, and 16,297,598 bushels of corn. Of 
cultivated timber there are 26,744 acres; apple trees, 306,143; 
pears, 5,582; peach trees, 39,584; plum trees, 48,564; cherry 
trees, 31,734; grape vines, 49,444; and 1,104 miles of live hedge. 

SOUTH-EASTERN NEBRASKA 

with 27 counties has a still more favorable record. The popu- 
lation of this section in 1860 was 16,539;" in 1870, 71,731; and in 
1879, 201,976; and in 1879 the assessed valuation of the property 
in this section is $40,483,979. The land in cultivation is 1,994,458 
acres; the horses number 100,574; the mules, 10,367; the cattle, 
199,146; sheep, 70,285; swine, 523,683, while the wheat product 
(estimating as before for certain counties that have not made re- 
turns) is 8,722,105 bushels, and corn 20,698,982 bushels. The 
acreage in cultivated timber is 62,769, and of fruit there are 967,- 
457 apple trees; 30,445 pear trees; 1,209,957 peach trees; 96,738 
plum trees, and 185,485 cherry trees; 158,367 grape vines, and 
5,497 miles of live hedge. From 

THE GRAZING REGION WEST 

the statistics are not sufficiently complete to warrant their setting 
forth, though here reside the balance of the population (the cen- 



26 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

6us of the state for 1879 gives the total population as 386,410 as 
against 122,993 in 1870, or an increase during the nine years of 
201 per cent, which is something unprecedented in the history of 
agricultural settlement, and most convincing testimony to the 
excellence of the land), the chief industry being the raising of 
beef cattle in immense herds, though in the valleys there is con- 
siderable farming, and as settlement proceeds, and pioneers push 
westward, the whole State will be devoted to mixed farming. The 
figures which are given must show those 

WHO WANT HOMES IN THE WEST 

that they cannot settle in a better state than Nebraska. There is 
enough and to spare for all the people; and an accumulation of 
wealth marvellous in so young a state. Those who have money to 
invest largely in stock may go to the grazing plains ; those whose 
means are more moderate should take a farm; while those who 
propose to engage in trade and manufacture will find openings in 
one or other of the towns. Nebraska is, and will always be, to a 
great extent an agricultural country, deriving its wealth from the 
soil. But there is 

MONEY INVESTED IN MANUFACTURES 

of various kinds; and there is room for more, especially in the 
manufactures which are connected with agriculture, as wagon and 
carriage making, lagrieultural implements, starch, pork packing, 
and dairy produce. A large field is indeed open, which only needs 
capital and intelligence and skill to develop. 

THE CENTRE OF THE RAILROADS OF THE COUNTRY. 

The railroad system of Nebraska permeates the state, and strikes 
out over the continent east, west, north and south, to the seaboard. 
Wherever there is a market for the surplus products of the state, 
there are railroads to that market. In the South Platte railroad 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 27 

system the principal railroad is that of the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad Company in Nebraska. The main line of this 
company commences at Plattsmouth, on the Missouri river (where 
at this time a bridge is being constructed which will connect the 
B. & M. in Nebraska with the C. B. & Q. in Iowa), with a branch 
from Omaha which joins the maiu line at Oreapolis, 4 miles west 
of Plattsmouth. The line then follows the course of the Platte river 
to the mouth of Salt Creek, whence it proceeds over Salt Creek 
valley through Lancaster county to Lincoln, the state capital; and 
thence westward over the prairie through Lancaster, Saline, Fill- 
more, Clay, Adams, and Kearney counties to a junction with the 
Union Pacific road at Kearney, in Buffalo county. The Beatrice 
branch of the B. & M. road starts from Crete, in Saline county, 
and runs south along the valley of the Big Blue to Beatrice in 
Gage county; and the same company, under the name of the Re- 
publican Valley Co., has built a line from Hastings, in Adams 
county, south over the prairie to the Republican valley, and thence 
west along the valley to Naponee, on the west line of Franklin 
county, which road is now being pushed forward as rapidly as pos- 
sible westward to Denver, in Colorado, and a contract for 100 miles 
west of Naponee has recently been made. It is also proposed to 
continue this line eastward from the point where it strikes the Re- 
publican valley south of Hastings, to Beatrice, in Gage county. 
The Nebraska railroad has at present its initial point in Nemaha 
city, in Nemaha county, and runs north on the west bank of the 
Missouri river through Brownville, in Nemaha county, to Nebraska 
city, in Otoe county; thence westward through Otoe and Lan- 
caster counties to Lincoln; and thence through Seward, York, Ham- 
ilton, and Merrick counties to Central city, where it connects with 
the U. P., and the track is now surveyed north 20 miles to 
Fullerton, the centre and county seat of Nance County. The 
Atchison & Nebraska railroad starts at Atchison, in Kansas, 
and runs through Richardson, Pawnee, Johnson, Gage, and 



28 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

Lancaster counties to Lincoln; and from the capital city this 
company is now building a road, under the name of the Lincoln 
& North Western railroad, through Lancaster, Saline, and Butler 
counties to Columbus, in Platte county, where it connects with the 
U. P. The Omaha & Republican Yalley railroad, a branch from 
the IT. P., runs through Douglas, Saunders, Butler, and Polk coun- 
ties to Osceola, the county seat of the last-named county, and a 
branch is now building from Valparaiso, in Saunders county, to 
Lincoln. The St. Joseph & Denver railroad, which starts at St. 
Joseph in Missouri, runs westward through the north tier of coun- 
ties in Kansas, and enters Nebraska in Jefferson county, passing 
through Thayer, Nuckolls, Adams, and Hall counties to a junc- 
tion with the U. P. at Grand Island; and the company is now 
building a branch from Marysville, in Kansas, along the valley of 
the Big Blue river to Beatrice, in Gage county. North of the 
Platte river the Union Pacific is the main line of railroad; and, 
starting from Omaha, its track is along the Platte valley to the 
western line of the state, a distance of 475 miles; and this com- 
pany is now building a branch road from Jackson, in Platte coun- 
ty, northward through Platte and Madison counties to Norfolk, in 
the last-named county, with a branch running to Albion, in Boone 
county. The Union Pacific is further building a branch from 
Grand Island to St. Paul, the county seat of Howard county. 
The Omaha &l North-western railroad runs north-west through 
Douglas, Washington, and Burt counties, the present terminus 
being at Oakland, in Burt county. The Sioux City & Pacific 
railroad runs from Missouri valley in Iowa, westward across the 
Missouri river through Washington county to Fremont, in Dodge 
county, where it connects with the U. P.; and the Elkhorn Yalley 
railroad runs from Fremont up the valley of the Elkhorn river, 
through Dodge, Cuming, Stanton, and Madison counties to Oak- 
dale, in Antelope county, with a branch running from the main 
line to Norfolk, in Madison county, and Pierce, the county seat of 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 29 

Pierce county. The Covington, Columbus, and Black Hills railroad 
runs from Covington, which is immediately opposite Sioux City, in 
Iowa, through Dakota county to Ponca, the county seat of Dixon 
county: and — the road having been recently sold to the Sioux City 
& St. Paul railroad — it is now proposed to run it further west 
through the northern counties of Nebraska. This is a catalogue- 
description of the railroad system of Nebraska; but the map will 
show better than any description how thoroughly the state is be- 
ing covered with a net-work of roads, binding it in one, and mak- 
ing all its interests common, No state at Nebraska's stage of 
growth has ever before had such railroad facilities, for the devel- 
opment of state commerce and foreign trade, through the Pacific 
roads west, and through the gate cities of Omaha, Plattsmouth, 
and Nebraska city, east -and south-east. Nor is this all. A new 
era of railroad building seems to have come to the state; and more 
railroads will still be built until there is not a corner of the state 
which is not penetrated by the iron way — the modern highway of 
nations — and bringing all the people, as will be seen is largely 
the case at present, into direct communication with Lincoln, the 
state capital. 

SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE STATE. 

Nebraska provides liberally for the education of the young. In 
the first place, there is the common school system, which pene- 
trates everywhere. There is a normal school, for the training of 
teachers, at Peru, in Nemaha county; and, at the head of the state 
system is the University at Lincoln, where the higher education, 
after the payment of matriculation fees, is free to students. The 
educational endowments, as shown by the statistics presented to 
the legislature in January, 1879, comprise common school land, 
2,443,148 acres; agricultural college land, 89,452 acres; Univer- 
'and, 45,119 acres; normal school land, 12,800 acres; and the 
school fund in money. $2,120,182; the revenue applied to common 
school purposes for the year mounting to $629,068. The 



30 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 



common schools grow with the state, as the following table will 
show: 

GROWTH OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 



1 Av. No. 
Years days of 
j School 


Districts 


Children 


Teachers 


Value of 
School Property 


1870 

1872 
1874 
1876 
1878 


46 

79 
88 
90 
92 


797 
1410 
2215 
2513 
2690 


32789 
51123 
72991 
86191 
104030 


536 

1512 
2735 
3366 
3730 


$ 178604 

817163 

1553926 

1585736 

1806466 



Besides the public provision, the Episcopalians have a college 
for girls — Brownell Hall at Omaha; and for boys, the Bishop 
Talbot college at Nebraska City. The Catholics have a noble col- 
lege at Omaha; the Congregationalists one at Crete, in Saline 
county; and the M. E. Church is about to erect a college at York, 
in York county. The state institution for the deaf and dumb is 
at Omaha; and for the blind at Nebraska City. The sum of the 
account is that every child in Nebraska has within reach a sound 
education which shall fit him and her to perform the duties of life. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

The capitol is at Lincoln; and work is just now being com- 
menced upon an addition to the present state house, the legisla- 
ture, at its latest session, having voted $60,000 for the purpose. 
The University, a fine Italian building, is also in Lincoln; and the 
state Insane Asylum is about two miles away, located in a charm- 
ing country; the Penitentiary, which is a castellated structure, is 
about one and a half miles from Lincoln; the Blind Asylum is at 
Nebraska City, and a Deaf and Dumb Institute at Omaha; and 
a reform school is to be erected at Kearney. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACQUIRING LAND. 

There are millions of acres of government land yet open to pre- 
emption, homestead and timber-culture entries in Nebraska; but 



NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 31 

those who want these will have to go considerably west. All over 
the state the public school lands are offered for sale and lease. The 
quantities are named in a preceding paragraph; and informa- 
tion with regard to them may be obtained by writing to F. M. 
Davis, State Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, at 
Lincoln, Nebraska. The minimum price at which these lands are 
sold is $7.00 per acre, on twenty years' time, at six per cent, inter- 
est; and leases are on appraised values. During the years 1877 and 
1878 the lands sold were 26,819 acres; and leased, 100,918; and 
the sales and leases during this year are doubling upon these fig- 
ures. 

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD LANDS. 

For detailed information about these lands, written or personal 
application should be made to the Land Commissioner, U. P. 
P. R, Omaha, Nebraska. This company owns 3,000,000 acres of 
fertile lands in central and western Nebraska, which are sold for 
cash, or on a credit of ten years, at six per cent interest, with 
gradual payments of principal and interest. The prices range 
from $2 to $10 per acre, on ten years' credit, " according to qual- 
ity, location, timber, and nearness to market;" and a deduction of 
ten per cent, from credit prices is made to cash purchasers. 

BURLINGTON & MISSOURI RIVER RAILROAD LANDS. 

For detailed information about these lands, address or apply to 
the Land Commissioner, B. & M. P. P., Lincoln, Nebraska. This 
company has remaining of its land grant of more than two mil- 
lion acres, about 1,000,000 acres south of the Platte river, in the 
rich south-eastern section, and in the north-eastern section north 
of the Platte. The north-eastern lands, of which there are about 
650,000 acres, range from $1 to $6 per acre, on ten years' time, 
with discount from those prices on six years and two years' 
credit, and for cash. The balance of the B. & M. lands in south- 
ern Nebraska are sold at from $3 to $10, on ten years' credit, 



32 NEBRASKA AND ITS RESOURCES. 

with discounts off for cash or shorter time of credit. The reader 
will perceive that there are still opportunities to acquire 

HOMES AND FARMS IN NEBRASKA, 

U. S, government land, state land and railroad land, free or on ex- 
ceedingly low terms; but the progress made by the state — as its 
history demonstrates — is proof enough that only a short time will 
elapse before the era of cheap lands is closed forever. 



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